CATS, CATS, MORE CATS We are cat fanciers here. I fell in love with cats when I was very young and practiced walking silently as they do. I thought then, and still do today, that cats' movements are poetry.
My folks felt that a boy should have a dog. So they got one for me. Without thinking, they got a puppy. Now, if there is anything more clumsy than an eight week old puppy I cannot imagine what it might be. I could not believe how the graceful Cat would tolerate this clumsy ball of fur. I had visions of Cat eating it in front of me. So the cat adopt the pup. Susie (dog's name) became cat's ward. (Yes, with my tremendous ability at naming things, I had named him Cat.) Cat took over Susie's training. He had no patience with Susan going potty in the house. He would come and stare at me until I got up and took her for a walk. And Cat supervised the walks, too. He went along and when Susan did her business, I swear Cat would look approvingly at her. It was a snap to house train Susie. Cat also taught Susan that his food belonged to him, not her. Susan learned very early in life that fooling with the razors Cat had on her feet was not a wise thing to do.
They slept together and as the pup grew up he would have a fitful time if Cat was not available to cuddle against him. And they loved chasing around the house. Mom was not keen about this and wanted them both outside. She did not share my sense of humor and enjoyment in watching them run through the house and over her best furniture. (Mothers are strange sometimes, to a nine year old.) But they had no problem chasing outdoors. And although Cat tried so very hard to teach Susie how to leap four times her own height, Susie was a failure at this. The best she could muster was twice her own shoulder height. I'm sure Cat felt he failed miserably in this lesson, but he never suggested Susie was a failure. He'd simply leap down and the chase would be on again. With all this chasing going on, Mother told me that one of the neighbors was concerned that Susie was trying to kill Cat. She explained they were only playing, but I don't know if he believed her or not. I do know he would often watch them at play and eventually walk away shaking his head because we wouldn't stop the dog from chasing the cat.